VaNews
December 25, 2020

Today's Sponsor:


** The VPAP Team
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A holiday salute to journalists who toil year-round to tell the stories of their communities.
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Top of the News


** In Urbanna, fond memories of Coca-Cola Christmases ([link removed])
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By LARRY CHOWNING, Southside Sentinel

The Coca-Cola bottle that was bottled between 1923-1937 at the Urbanna Coca-Cola Bottling Plant was a reminder that the Christmas spirit was year-around....When Christmas neared, youngsters waited with excitement to see what display employees at the Coke plant would come up with. One of the most memorable window displays was in 1957 when the corporate office provided a cardboard cutout of Santa holding a bottled Coke atop Sputnik, the first satellite to go into space on Oct. 4, 1957.
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** Bigger bass coming soon ([link removed])
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By JIM BREWER, Greene County Record

The largemouth bass is unquestionably America’s favorite gamefish. Virginians, too, have a love affair with these freshwater fish which leap when hooked and can grow to impressive sizes. In a few years, if things go as planned, there may be even more large bass in Virginia waters. The Division of Wildlife Resources (previously known as the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries) is experimenting with a strain of largemouth bass called F1. The F1 bass is a cross between a northern strain and a Florida strain largemouth.
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** Foot bridges in jeopardy? ([link removed])
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By GRACIE HART BROOKS, Madison Eagle

A proposal that would remove two pieces of Madison County history has supervisors and community members balking. In August, VDOT representative Carrie Shepheard presented supervisors with the proposed abandonment of two swinging bridges in Criglersville. She said both bridges, one of which is located near Lindsay Lane and the other further up Old Blue Ridge Turnpike, are in poor to critical condition and no longer meet the current safety standards due to their age.
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** Sending masks across the land ([link removed])
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By TOBY COX, Central Virginian

As the coronavirus shutdown began, Mary Keating remembers watching the news, seeing the rising number of COVID-19 cases, and feeling like she needed to do something to help. One thing amid all the uncertainty was clear: The world needed masks. Keating called Peggy Ellis, who sews and quilts, and asked if she would like to work on a project making masks to donate to the community. Ellis agreed, and the nine-month-long project began
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** Local vet crafts gun racks for Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ([link removed])
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By ALEXA MASSEY, Farmville Herald (Paywall)

A local veteran and Dillwyn native was able to experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when he was tasked this year to craft a pair of gun racks for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Since 1921, the memorial has served as a final resting place for one of America’s unidentified World War I service members, with Unknowns from later wars added in 1958 and 1984. Victor Moss, 71, of Buckingham, was born and raised in the Town of Dillwyn. He served two years in the U.S. Army in the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam.
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** Letter carrier makes Christmas stockings for all 250 dogs on his route ([link removed])
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By CATHY FREE, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

There are 250 dogs on Scott Arnold’s U.S. Postal Service route, and every year, he gives each one a personalized Christmas stocking that has their name, dog treats and a note from Santa. But for the first time in 25 years, Arnold thought he might skip it this year. He knew that the families in the 22101 Zip code area of McLean, Va., would have understood. Arnold, 66, lost his adult son, Jason, in May of unknown causes, just days before his 37th birthday.
The Full Report
12 articles, 12 publications
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** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** New state forest created in Charlotte County ([link removed])
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By A.J. O'LEARY, The Union Star

A new state forest was recently announced in Charlotte County, creating over 2,000 acres of publicly accessible land. The 2,531-acre parcel of land is Charlotte County’s first and only state forest, according to a statement released by the Virginia Department of Forestry and The Conservation Fund, a national land conservancy. Previously owned by Former Virginia Governor Thomas Bahnson Stanley, it was purchased by The Conservation Fund in 2019.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** Mathews business gets a facelift ([link removed])
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By SHERRY HAMILTON, Gazette-Journal

Audrey Stewart wanted a red door. Her downtown Mathews business, 5 Star Oriental Medicine, needed a facelift, and she thought a red door would give it just the right touch. But then, if the door were painted red, everything around it might look a bit bland....Thus, one thing led to another, and eventually the entire exterior of the building was transformed.
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** Cattle Rustlers Hit Mount Jackson Farm ([link removed])
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By CHARLES PAULLIN, Daily News Record (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Although they’re smaller cows and they take some time to grow in size, once a person tastes the beef from a Belted Galloway, cattleman Gary Lantz says they’ll be a customer for life. “Usually when they have the taste of a Belted Galloway, they don’t want any other beef,” said Lantz, who owns the Cannon Hill Farm in Mount Jackson. Fourteen of Lantz’s cattle have been missing from the 300-acre farm for a couple of weeks, he said. The haul is about a $15,000 blow.


** TRANSPORTATION
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** Sunnybank Ferry resumes operations ([link removed])
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By STAFF REPORT, Rappahannock Record (Paywall)

Effective Monday, December 14, service has resumed on the Sunnybank Ferry in Northumberland County following an extensive maintenance project to renew the vessel. Service had been suspended since summer 2020, and the boat underwent routine cleaning and maintenance in dry-dock. New ramps were installed, which vehicles use to travel on and off the ferry from the dock. A fresh coat of paint protects the boat exterior.
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** Railroad tunnel through the Blue Ridge has some fighting Irish in its history ([link removed])
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By RAY COX, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

An unspoken founding principle of this newspaper is it is always a good time to tell a railroad story. Such being so, we turn again to esteemed historian John R. Hildebrand, our conductor on previous excursions on the long defunct but never forgotten Valley Railroad....Irishmen from County Cork, subsequently based in the Waynesboro area who were working on what was then known as the Blue Ridge Tunnel, were parties to the aforementioned labor dispute with their countrymen. The ire of the Waynesboro contingent was directed at newcomers from County Connaught in the northwest quadrant of the Emerald Isle who were also working on the Virginia Central tracks, but west of the Corkonians in the Fishersville area.


** CORONAVIRUS
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** Through crinkly plastic, fierce embraces fight the loneliness of covid-19 ([link removed])
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By PETULA DVORAK, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Gary Witzenburg was stunned by what happened, wiping away tears with the back of his rough, 52-year-old hands as he sidestepped away afterward. Same with his mother, Gay Dixon, a 76-year-old, hair-done, born and raised Southerner who dressed up in an unstructured blazer for the occasion and was so shocked by the way it went, she unleashed a streak of salty words. We’re not talking “darn” or “shucks.” She went all the way blue.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** Fauquier veterans honored with gravesite wreaths ([link removed])
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By DON DEL ROSSO, Fauquier Now

Bundled against Saturday morning’s bitter cold in a bright orange fleece cap and hooded camouflage jacket, the M.M. Pierce Elementary School fifth-grader dropped to his knees and carefully placed a wreath against the headstone of a veteran’s gravesite in the Remington cemetery. “I’m showing respect to all who died in the service to make the country free,” Lincoln Perkins, 10, of Bealeton said.


** LOCAL
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** Gracie joins Culpeper Police Department as support animal ([link removed])
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By JOSH GULLY, Culpeper Times (Metered Paywall)

One of the Culpeper Police Department’s newest members – Gracie, a 10-week-old Australian shepherd puppy – is joining the force to provide much different services than her four-legged co-workers. Instead of having a nose for narcotics, Gracie will serve as the department’s first support canine. She joins the Peer Support Team, which consists of officers who ensure those responding to critical incidents have the necessary support.
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** Lucy, the parkway pup, is finally captured in Virginia Beach ([link removed])
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By STACY PARKER, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 2 articles a month)

They call her Lucy, the Parkway pup. She’s not as exotic as Sunny the red panda, but the stray dog who got fed by passing motorists along Lynnhaven Parkway had a loyal following of her own. While Sunny had an air of mystery surrounding her disappearance from the Norfolk zoo, Lucy’s a street smart hound dog who learned how to panhandle for food without getting hit by cars. She also eluded animal control officers for two years, while someone put up a large sign asking people not to feed her.
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** Loggers get a tax break ([link removed])
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By SYLVIA ALLEN, Brunswick Times-Gazette

The Brunswick County Board of Supervisors adopted an ordinance amendment to permit localities to exempt equipment and machinery used for forest harvesting and silvicultural activities from personal property taxes....Earlier Keli Reekes, Director of Finance, said the estimated financial impact of a tax exemption on eligible equipment is $258,500.
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** Students hold fundraiser to help local family who lost belongings in recent house fire ([link removed])
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By SHAINA STOCKTON, Independence Declaration

The Grayson County community rallied together in support of a local family from Independence, who recently lost their belongings in a house fire. Jennifer Campbell, principal of Independence Elementary School, confirmed Dec. 10 that donors had raised $567 in a day-long fundraiser held at the school last week. ... The school community came up with a “Hat Day” event, in which students could wear any hat they chose all day for a $1 donation.
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** Danville Historical Society's jigsaw puzzle tradition kept alive ([link removed])
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By ELIAS WEISS, Star Tribune

Since 2016, the Danville Historical Society has sold novelty jigsaw puzzles in time for the holidays. But amid the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for puzzles has gone up as availability of suppliers has gone down. The pandemic made it almost impossible to continue the tradition for a fifth consecutive holiday season, but DHS officials refused to accept an off-year.

Today's Sponsor:


** The VPAP Team
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A holiday salute to journalists who toil year-round to tell the stories of their communities.


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